Fox Mate (Madison Wolves) (36 page)

"All right." They gave me one final sip of my lemonade. Bailey adjusted my lips and said, "No more now, the next thing to touch your lips should be Lara's lips."

I nodded.

They kept hold of my arms, and I realized it was Gia now on one side, Angel on the other. We stepped out of the room and paused at the top of the stairs. "We're coming," Angel said. I took a big breath and, with my train slithering along behind me, let Angel and Gia escort me down the stairs.

We paused
three quarters to the bottom, and I heard Lara's intake of breath.

"Oh my god," said Elisabeth under her breath, presumably to Lara. "You lucky dog you."

I couldn't help but smile.

Angel tugged on my arm gently, and they led me the rest of the way down the stairs. We came to a stop, and I could hear Lara's heartbeat directly in front of me.

"No touching!" Angel said. "You may look, you may not touch."

Lara chuckled. Then she walked around me once, stepping over the train.

Someone was taking pictures, lots of pictures.

Angel pulled my arm again, and I was led a short distance.

"There are mirrors in front of you," she said.

Gia stepped away, and then Bailey stepped into her place and said quietly, "Don't worry if you cry. I'll fix any damage, but if you can avoid flat out sobs, that would be great.
"

The camera was still going, and I heard Lara moving to a position in front of me, Elisabeth with her. Everyone else moved in that direction as well, and I realized they all wanted to watch my expression.

"I need to adjust the train," Scarlett said. "Sophia, will you help?"

I felt them adjust the train, pushing it around, and the dres
s relaxed when it wasn't pulled backwards quite so much. They tugged on the dress a little more, smoothing things around, and then declared me ready.

"Close your eyes," Lara said. I nodded. "Remove the blindfold."
Bailey removed the blindfold carefully, causing as little damage to my hair as she could. Maia stepped up behind me and fluffed my hair, then declared me good. They both stepped away, and I was left with only Angel holding my right hand.

"Open," said Lara.

I opened my eyes to find myself looking straight into a full-length mirror. There were two more mirrors set at angles. Lara was standing between the center one and the one on the right with Elisabeth looking over her shoulder. I was looking into the mirror, but my eyes immediately went to Lara instead, and I stared at her, not myself.

She looked beyond stunning. She was dressed in
a medium grey tuxedo in a form-fitting cut, with a white blouse, opened quite a ways down. I could see a hint of each firm breast. Her strong, amazing figure was carefully accented, and I gulped.

This was the woman who wanted to marry me. My knees grew weak looking at her, and Angel steadied me.

I smiled at Lara then turned to the mirror. I stared at my reflection. I was wearing the simple dress I had loved, with straight, clean lines and only the most tasteful of decoration. My small breasts were lifted. My shoulders were bare, with my hair cascading over them. The dress ended at my ankles, and there was no train.

"It's-" I said. "Lara, it's beautiful." I looked at her. I was stunned. "You bought me the dress I wanted."

"No, I bought you the dress I wanted."

I started to cry. "It's beautiful."

"No," she said. "You are beautiful. The dress is only accentuating the woman wearing it."

"Oh Lara," I said, and then she tried to step forward, but E
lisabeth grabbed her, and several women stepped between us.

"No touching," Elisabeth and Angel said together.

I laughed and looked at my reflection again. "But- There was a train. I felt it."

Gia giggled. I turned in her direction, and she was holding in her arms a large amount of wedding dress material.

I looked at Lara. "You had them trick me!"

"Yes, I did," she said, and she was smirking. "And it wasn't easy, either."

Elisabeth scoffed. "Yeah, she told the dressmaker what she wanted, and the dressmaker told her what it would cost."

I laughed.

"All right," Angel said. "Get her out of here, Elisabeth. We need to fix the damage."

"I'll see you soon,
Little Fox!" Lara said as Elisabeth dragged her away.

"I love you, Lara! Thank you!"

Once she was gone, I looked at Angel. "You little sneak."

She grinned at me. "I'm learning from the expert."

Gia growled, but it was playful. She'd once been concerned I was a bad influence. I laughed.

Bailey and Maia cleaned me up a little further, primped me, and declared me ready. Gia fed me a little more chicken and a little more lemonade. Bailey frowned and fixed the damage around my mouth. "That's enough," she said.

I smiled at her. "Thank you."

Scarlett was taking photos. So was Gia.

"All right," Angel said eventually. "When we're summoned, we step outside. The ceremony is in the field."

"I can't walk in the field in these shoes," I said.

"That's taken care of," she said. "Do you think we would allow you to fall? You and I will walk together. There are two professional photographers. They will take photos as you exit the house and more as you travel down the path that is prepared. Lara is entering from another direction, and you will meet at the middle. There will be more pictures, and then the ceremony will begin."

"Who did Lara get to officiate?"

Angel paused. "We're not telling," she said. She smiled.

"All right."

I figured it would be someone from the council, perhaps Vivian or Ron Berg.

I wanted to pace, but I didn't want to pace in these heels, so I leaned on Angel and let the ladies
entertain me.

"I hate waiting," I said. I bit my lip, and Bailey yelled at me then fixed the damage. "Sorry," I said in a small voice.

* * * *

It wasn't really that long of a wait. There was a knock at the front door, and then it opened. Karen stepped in. "Karen," she said as she crossed the threshold.

I turned and smiled at her. She stared at me. "You look stunning, Alpha-to-be."

"What?"

"Oh hell," said Angel. "We missed a custom already."

I looked over at her.

"Sorry," she said.

"Lara is the alpha," I said. "I am the omega."

"She is alpha," Angel said. "But soon, so are you. You are the Alpha pair. It's not always that way; it is her decision."

"You are still omega," Gia said. "But you can not be the alpha's mate without authority. It is her authority you will wield, with her permission.
We will still call you Michaela most of the time, but sometimes you are alpha."

"I understand. She and I will be talking about this."

"No you won't," Angel said. "If you really need to talk to someone, talk to Elisabeth first. This is important, and you shouldn't fight it. Lara will want you to be able to act on her behalf, and you can't do that if you have no authority. And frankly, the rest of us want to know you have that authority as well. Elisabeth can explain more, but I'm begging you. Don't fight this."

I nodded.

"It is time," Karen said. "Congratulations, Michaela."

"Thank you, Karen."

All the women except Angel and Karen filed from the room, presumably to take their places. Karen waited for a signal from outside, then nodded, and Angel led me through the door.

There was a path, a boardwalk, constructed beginning at the front steps. We stepped directly from the porch to the boardwalk, and the photographer
s began taking our photos. We turned left towards the field where we held so many of our outdoor activities. The boardwalk extended all the way to the middle of the field, and there was another one on the other side. They met and then they turned to my left and went to a platform.

The entire pack was standing in the field, and at the opposite end, mirroring my position, stood Lara and Elisabeth. I smiled at the sight of her.

Angel stepped us forward, and the pack watched us, turning back and forth to look at me and to look at Lara. I couldn't detect Angel adjusting our rate of approach, but we met Lara and Elisabeth in the middle, arriving at exactly the same time.

I had eyes for no one but
Lara. She looked amazing, and I felt a tear creep into my eye.

"Hello, Little Fox," Lara said.

"Hello, my love," I replied.

Angel tugged me forward two more steps, and then she handed me off to Lara. We turned
and proceeded together up the center aisle to a stage raised slightly off the ground. Angel and Elisabeth fell in behind us, stepping to flank us as we reached the stage.

Waiting for us were Kaylee and Thomas, the two youngest wolves who lived at the compound. Thomas was wearing a suit, and Kaylee was in a beautiful dress with ribbons in her hair. I glanced at Lara. She turned me around to face the pack, and I saw hundreds of smiling faces.

"Please be seated!" Thomas said, his voice pitched to carry. Together they all sat. I couldn't believe my marriage was to be officiated by two eight-year-olds, but somehow it seemed fitting at the same time. They were at the beginning of their lives, and Lara and I were at the beginning of our lives together.

Lara turned me back to face Kaylee and Thomas.

"You look beautiful, Michaela," Kaylee said very quietly, beaming up at me.

Thomas reached into his suit coat pocket and pulled out two pieces of paper. He gave one to
Kaylee, and they both unfolded them. They switched them with each other. "Oops," he said quietly. Lara smiled fondly at both of them.

Thomas read from his paper. "Weddings are
solemn events."

Kaylee read, "Full of serious
expressions and serious priests."

After that, they
each read one sentence at a time, alternating. "That's stupid." There was a pause as people chuckled. "Weddings are a celebration. Weddings are fun. Weddings should reflect the person- person-" Kaylee got stuck on the word, and Thomas helped her. "Personalities," he said, loudly enough for everyone to hear. Kaylee read again, "Weddings should reflect the personalities of the people being married."

"Michaela and Lara are strong. And powerful. And smart. Especially Michaela." More chuckles. "And so we have a wedding suited to them. A wedding worthy of our Alpha. A wedding worthy of our fox." They paused and both looked straight at us,
their eyes darting back and forth. "I love you," said Kaylee. "We love you," added Thomas.

Someone started the applause, perhaps for us, but I chose to believe it was for the kids. I heard movement, and I turned to see Scarlett stand up from her place in the front row on my side of the aisle. Alan stood up from his place in the front on Lara's side. They
stepped forward to join us on the stage. I smiled at Scarlett, but she stepped past me and said, "Thomas, that was very good." Thomas was her little brother. She took his hand and escorted him off the stage. Alan took Kaylee, who was his little sister. We waited while the two children were handed over to their parents, then Scarlett and Alan sat back down.

Chloe Lassiter, thirteen years old, and the next oldest child living at the compound, stood up
and joined us on the stage. She was holding a piece of paper, but she never looked at it.

"Lara," she said. "You are our alpha. Your choices affect all of us. Your choice of Alpha-to-be affects all of us. You have invited Michaela, omega fox, to live amongst us, to teach us, to fight for us, to protect us, to be our friend. And now you ask us to accept her leadership alongside yours."

She turned to me. "Michaela, omega fox, Alpha-to-be. You joined us only a short time ago, but already you have touched our lives in ways no one could ever have foreseen. You have been instrumental in saving us from threats to the pack not once, but twice. You have upended your life and accepted our ways, our ways that must be so strange to you. You have taught us and sheltered us. You have comforted our tears and driven away our fears."

She paused.

"I can not speak for anyone else here, I can only speak for myself, but I could not be more pleased to see you both standing here today."

Then she stepped around us and faced the assembled wolves; Lara and I turned
to watch her. "I can not speak for any of you, but you can speak for yourselves."

In answer, the
wolves raised their noses to the air and began to howl, softly, softer than I had ever heard a wolf howl.

I looked at Lara. "Is that right?" I asked her.

"They are being kind to your ears."

I smiled then faced them and raised my hand, the hand Lara wasn't crushing in hers. It took a moment, but they quieted. "That was just sad," I said firmly. "Even I howl better than that." They laughed. I had a terrible howl.